Scott Allen Skiles Sr. (born March 5, 1964) is an American former professional basketball coach and player. A first-round draft pick from the Michigan State Spartans, Skiles played ten seasons as a point guard in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He holds the NBA record for assists in one game with 30, set with the Orlando Magic during a December game in the 1990–1991 season. After that season, he earned the NBA Most Improved Player Award. Skiles also played in the NBA for the Milwaukee Bucks, Indiana Pacers, Washington Bullets and Philadelphia 76ers before he finished his playing career with PAOK Thessaloniki of Greece in 1997. He became a coach after his playing retirement and was the head coach for the Phoenix Suns, Chicago Bulls, Milwaukee Bucks and Orlando Magic.
High school and college
In 1982, Skiles led Plymouth High School to the Indiana State Championship, scoring 39 points to lead the Pilgrims past the Gary Roosevelt Panthers in double overtime. During that season, Skiles led the state in scoring, averaging 29.3 points per game. Skiles set several school records during his career there, including most points in a home game (53) and most points in an away game (56). a record that would stand until 2005. Skiles had his number 22 jersey retired at Plymouth High School in 1992. and scoring champion. He left MSU as its all-time career scoring leader (2,145 points) While in East Lansing, he was arrested and charged with felony possession of cocaine and misdemeanor possession of marijuana. The cocaine charge was dropped, and Skiles pleaded guilty to the marijuana possession. He was arrested and charged with drunken driving a year later and served 15 days in jail. During his senior season, Skiles committed a parole violation on an earlier marijuana conviction, and served a brief jail sentence.
Playing career
The Milwaukee Bucks made Skiles the 22nd selection of the 1986 NBA draft. In ten seasons, he played for the Bucks (1986–87), Indiana Pacers (1987–89), Orlando Magic (1989–94), Washington Bullets (1994–95), and Philadelphia 76ers (1995–96). Skiles was seldom used his rookie season with the Bucks, averaging 3.8 points and 3.5 assists in just 13 games off the bench. With the Pacers in 1987–88, Skiles averaged even fewer minutes but played in more games, increasing his scoring marginally to 4.4 points and posting the same 3.5 assists per game in 50 games, just two of them starts. Mainly a backup point guard, he scored 7.7 points and posted 4.8 assists in 20.9 minutes per game in 70 games, 48 off the bench. breaking Kevin Porter's NBA single-game assists record (29). His well more than doubling scoring and nearly doubling his assists marks from the previous year earned him the NBA Most Improved Player Award. relegating Skiles to the bench. During the 1994 offseason, Skiles was traded to the Washington Bullets in the offseason to create salary cap space.
Washington Bullets (1994–1995)
For the Washington Bullets in 1994–95, Skiles' minutes were back up to 33.5 per game in just 62 games, all starts, and both his scoring and assists also increased - to 13.0 and 7.3 respectively. Expectations were high for the new arrival from the NBA, but midway through the season injuries and contract problems with key players threatened the season for both PAOK and French coach Michel Gomez. Still struggling with injury himself, and increasingly at odds with Gomez, Skiles asked to be released from his contract. Instead, president Lakis Alexopoulos fired Gomez and offered Skiles the job. being elevated to head coach in 1999. including a first-round win over the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs in 2000.
Chicago Bulls (2003–2007)
After a two-year absence from the game, Skiles came to the Chicago Bulls as head coach in 2003. In the first full year under his direction, Chicago limited its opposition to an NBA-best .422 field goal percentage and held their opponents to a franchise record and league high 26 straight games below 100 points. An NBA best 13–3 mark in January 2005 earned Skiles the NBA Eastern Conference Coach of the Month honor.
The 2006 Bulls went 41–41, earning a 7th seed in the playoffs falling to 2nd seeded Miami Heat in six games.
Milwaukee Bucks (2008–2013)
On April 21, 2008, the Milwaukee Bucks signed their former player Skiles as team's new head coach. He led the Bucks to a 34–48 record in the 2008–09 season. Injuries to key players Michael Redd and Andrew Bogut marred the season, but Skiles was given a show of support by general manager John Hammond.
The next season Skiles had success with an improving, if still young, core led by Bogut at center and Brandon Jennings at point guard. A midseason trades for John Salmons and the pick-up of Jerry Stackhouse gave Skiles both a reliable shooter and a veteran presence on the Bucks' bench. Most NBA prognosticators picked the Bucks to finish last in the Eastern Conference, but the team's defense helped the Bucks beat several of the top teams in the NBA. After a gruesome injury to Bogut's right arm on April 3, 2010 Skiles coached his team to a decisive victory over the heavily favored Phoenix Suns. Three days later Skiles and the Bucks clinched a playoff berth by beating the Chicago Bulls in Chicago.
Skiles' five-year stint in Milwaukee ended on January 8, 2013, when he and the Bucks mutually agreed to part ways.
Orlando Magic (2015–2016)
On May 29, 2015, former team point guard Skiles joined the Orlando Magic as the franchise's 12th head coach. On May 12, 2016, after head coaching the team for one season, Skiles stepped down as head coach of the Orlando Magic, claiming he was "not the right head coach" for the Magic.
NBA career statistics
Regular season
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Milwaukee
| 13 || 0 || 15.8 || .290 || .214 || .833 || 2.0 || 3.5 || 0.4 || 0.1 || 3.8
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Indiana
| 51 || 2 || 14.9 || .411 || .300 || .833 || 1.3 || 3.5 || 0.4 || 0.1 || 4.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Indiana
| 80 || 13 || 19.6 || .448 || .267 || .903 || 1.9 || 4.9 || 0.8 || 0.0 || 6.8
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Orlando
| 70 || 32 || 20.9 || .409 || .394 || .874 || 2.3 || 4.8 || 0.5 || 0.1 || 7.7
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Orlando
| 79 || 66 || 34.4 || .445 || .408 || .902 || 3.4 || 8.4 || 1.1 || 0.1 || 17.2
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Orlando
| 75 || 63 || 31.7 || .414 || .364 || .895 || 2.7 || 7.3 || 1.0 || 0.1 || 14.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Orlando
| 78 || 78 || 39.6 || .467 || .340 || .892 || 3.7 || 9.4 || 1.1 || 0.0 || 15.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Orlando
| 82 || 46 || 28.1 || .429 || .412 || .878 || 2.3 || 6.1 || 0.6 || 0.0 || 9.9
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Washington
| 62 || 62 || 33.5 || .455 || .421 || .886 || 2.6 || 7.3 || 1.1 || 0.1 || 13.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Philadelphia
| 10 || 9 || 23.6 || .351 || .441 || .800 || 1.6 || 3.8 || 0.7 || 0.0 || 6.3
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career
| 600 || 371 || 28.0 || .435 || .379 || .889 || 2.5 || 6.5 || 0.8 || 0.0 || 11.1
Playoffs
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|1994
|style="text-align:left;"|Orlando
|2||0||11.5||.500||.000||1.000||0.5||1.5||0.0||0.0||4.5
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career
| 2 || 0 || 11.5 || .500 || .000 || 1.000 || 0.5 || 1.5 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 4.5
Head coaching record
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|Phoenix
| style="text-align:left;"|
|62||40||22|||| style="text-align:center;"|3rd in Pacific||9||4||5||
| style="text-align:center;"|Lost in Conf. Semifinals
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|Phoenix
| style="text-align:left;"|
|82||51||31|||| style="text-align:center;"|3rd in Pacific||4||1||3||
| style="text-align:center;"|Lost in First round
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|Phoenix
| style="text-align:left;"|
|51||25||26|||| style="text-align:center;"|(resigned)||—||—||—||—
| style="text-align:center;"|—
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|Chicago
| style="text-align:left;"|
|66||19||47|||| style="text-align:center;"|8th in Central||—||—||—||—
| style="text-align:center;"|Missed Playoffs
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|Chicago
| style="text-align:left;"|
|82||47||35|||| style="text-align:center;"|2nd in Central||6||2||4||
| style="text-align:center;"|Lost in First round
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|Chicago
| style="text-align:left;"|
|82||41||41|||| style="text-align:center;"|4th in Central||6||2||4||
| style="text-align:center;"|Lost in First round
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|Chicago
| style="text-align:left;"|
|82||49||33|||| style="text-align:center;"|3rd in Central||10||6||4||
| style="text-align:center;"|Lost in Conf. Semifinals
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|Chicago
| style="text-align:left;"|
|25||9||16|||| style="text-align:center;"|(fired)||—||—||—||—
| style="text-align:center;"|—
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|Milwaukee
| style="text-align:left;"|
|82||34||48|||| style="text-align:center;"|5th in Central||—||—||—||—
| style="text-align:center;"|Missed Playoffs
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|Milwaukee
| style="text-align:left;"|
|82||46||36|||| style="text-align:center;"|2nd in Central||7||3||4||
| style="text-align:center;"|Lost in First round
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|Milwaukee
| style="text-align:left;"|
|82||35||47|||| style="text-align:center;"|3rd in Central||—||—||—||—
| style="text-align:center;"|Missed Playoffs
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|Milwaukee
| style="text-align:left;"|
|66||31||35|||| style="text-align:center;"|3rd in Central||—||—||—||—
| style="text-align:center;"|Missed Playoffs
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|Milwaukee
| style="text-align:left;"|
||32||16||16|||| style="text-align:center;"|(resigned)||—||—||—||—
| style="text-align:center;"|—
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|Orlando
| style="text-align:left;"|
||82||35||47|||| style="text-align:center;"|5th in Southeast||—||—||—||—
| style="text-align:center;"|Missed Playoffs
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:left;"|Career
| ||958||478||480|||| ||42||18||24||
|- class="sortbottom"
See also
- List of National Basketball Association career free throw percentage leaders
- List of National Basketball Association players with most assists in a game
Notes
External links
- Scott Skiles college stats at Sports Reference